LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WORRY ABOUT THE SMALL STUFF

The do-gooders are comical is their endless attempts to make sure no one’s feelings are hurt; especially minorities.  I’m sure many minorities are sick to death of these self important phony guardians and wish they could make them disappear with a snap of their fingers.

One of the great black actresses of film in the 1930’s and 40s was Hattie McDaniel.  Hattie played maids in most of her roles in films like “Gone with the Wind” (1939) and “Since You Went Away” (1944).  She was once asked if she felt demeaned because maid roles were about all that were offered black women in those days.  Hattie answered, “I’d rather play maids for $700 a week than be one for $7 a week.”  I’m sure that Hattie’s contemporary, Louise Beavers, would share that opinion.

Hattie needed no help from the PC crowd and neither did black actors like Willie Best (1906-1952) who always played the pop eyed prototype black servant in his many film and TV roles and made good money doing it.

Many other black actors did well in the 30s and 40s. Guys like Fred “Snowflake” Toones, Mantan Moreland, Dooley Wilson, and Rochester (Eddie Anderson) were making big bucks in radio and film and were happy to play sidekicks to white guys to make nice livings.

Stepin Fetchit

 By the end of the 40s guys like Sidney Poitier and James Edwards finally broke the stereotype.  But, McDaniel, Best, and especially Stepin Fetchit (Lincoln Perry, 1902-1985), had immense talent and made a lot of money.  Probably the last thing on their minds was how politically correct their roles were.

Perry became a millionaire with his portrayal as a lazy, slow-witted, jive-talkin' black guy.  He was big in films during the 1930s and still offends some African-Americans now; more than 50 years after his huge popularity. Yet some African-Americans claim he is the first black superstar, and thus a trailblazer for others of his race.  I think they should look at him as a funny and talented guy who portrayed characters that were not uncommon at the time.  You can’t change history so enjoy the humor of Perry and forget the PC garbage.

How long do you think this song would be played today before the PC’ers would faint?  It’s “Chew-Chou Ching-Chong, Cincinnati  Ding Dong” (2:34) and it was huge in 1950 when I was a kid in Cincy.  No one was offended.  Any radio station playing it today would be picketed in about one minute although the song sounds quite innocent to me.

The topper in PC hell has to be the small town of Pekin, Illinois.  Apparently, Pekin is directly across the globe from Peking, China (now Beijing) so to celebrate that fact, the high school sports teams were called the “Chinks” until 1981 when, under some pressure from PC groups, they changed their name to the “Dragons.”

Pekin Chinks, still controversial 

 

The liberal New York Times did a comment about how wonderful it was that Pekin saw the light and did the right thing in respecting globalization and the feelings of the Chinese who were hurt by the term “Chinks.”

So, how did the town of Pekin respond to their being forced to change their school nickname?  Writer Jeff Lewis, a former resident can tell you:   “How did globalization by fiat fare in Pekin? More than twenty years later, home for the holidays, I decided to pick up a Chinks T-Shirt because no one ever believes a High School would select such a ridiculous name. Pop and I rolled over to the T-Shirt House (on South 2nd Street in Pekin). I found no Chinks — and, tellingly, very little Dragons — regalia. Pop isn’t shy. He sauntered over to the desk to inquire with the clerk who, after surveying the store from behind the desk (presumably to ensure no Chinese were shopping), led us into a reasonably-sized, back room with every manner of Chinks memorabilia right down to letterman jackets.

Like the Confederate flags adorning local pick-up trucks, Pekin Chinks continues to linger, reflecting the persistent hold that hatred exerts upon the human mind. I own a Pekin ChinksT-shirt to prove it.”

Right or wrong, ya gotta love the will of Middle America.  My advice?  Lighten up!

Quote of the day from Paul Ryan:  "We promise equal opportunity; not equal outcomes."

  

CHICK-FIL-A, 8.3? NO, 8.254!, AND DIRTY HARRY'S ENDORSEMENT

A gay “kiss-in” at the Chick-fil-A restaurants?  Chick-fil-A welcomed it as long as the participants were orderly.  The restaurant chain issued a statement that “We understand from news reports that Friday, August 3, may present yet another opportunity for us to serve our customers with genuine hospitality, superior service, and great food.”  Great line!  Hell, why not take advantage of the extra business?

About 15,000 gays were expected to participate across the country which doesn’t sound like many.  Some of them thought it is too much of an “in your face” protest.  I have to agree.  As we noticed from the Chick-fil-A appreciation day this week, thousands joined forces to support the chain and their ideals.  Common sense says that a day of same sex kissing at Chick-fil-A was not going to help the gay cause and would probably hurt it.

According to reports in today’s (8-4) media, the “kiss in” was a giant flop nationally, including in the Phoenix area.   About fifty people showed up at one location in Paradise Valley but the kissing was minimal.  Most of the action was shouting lines like “I am somebody and I demand equal rights.”  That’s a bit confusing to me as I didn’t realize Chick-fil-A was abusing anyone’s rights.  All they have done is state their opinion of marriage when asked.  Gays are welcome in their places any time they wish and some are employed there.  This is just another example of a pressure group taking themselves way too serious.

Is Obama getting more desperate?  It’s almost comical that when the unemployment rate went from 8.2 to 8.3 for July, the White House would say it is actually 8.254.  That is a good example of splitting hairs. There is the cheering over 163,000 jobs being created last month.  Unfortunately, not much mention of the 150,000 jobs lost.  But it is all meaningless when you realize that the actual unemployment figure is 15%.   It doesn’t matter how much creative accounting is applied and how much Obama says it is your “patriotic duty” to pay more taxes, he is on the wrong track.

Clint Eastwood backs Romney:  "I think the country

 needs a boost." (Getty)

As if Obama doesn’t have enough on his plate, Clint Eastwood has announced his support for Romney.  This line from Dirty Harry (1971) is pretty appropriate:  Harry Callahan: “When are you people gonna stop messing around with this guy. He’s gotta be stopped now!”

Interesting recent letter sent to The Arizona Republic:  It was in response to another letter stating that “We don’t fight mandated auto insurance.”

Not everyone owns a car.  Those people are not mandated to buy auto insurance.  Does the letter writer actually believe everyone driving has auto insurance?  If so, why do I have to have coverage against uninsured drivers?

Not everyone owns a house.  Are renters mandated to have insurance?  What about all the exemptions to the mandate.  Not everyone is required to buy mandated health insurance (Just ask Nancy Pelosi).

I would advise all young, healthy people with a good income to pay the penalty tax.  It will be cheaper than a high insurance premium.  Then, later when they get a serious condition, they can buy the mandated health insurance because they can’t be refused coverage and there will be no cap on their costs.

Another letter asks:  If we have a failed Social Security system, failed Medicare, failed Medicade, failed postal system, failed solar companies financially aided by the government, what do we expect to get from Obamacare?   Good question.

AN ERA WHEN PEOPLE DIDN'T TAKE THEMSELVES SO SERIOUS

"This is probably the greatest honor that I've ever had in my life."   Elvis; after making his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956.

In many ways I miss white picket fence America.  For me, that era lasted from about when I was born in 1941 in Florida through growing up in Cincinnati in the ‘40’s, ‘50s and early ‘60s.  It was an era when the norm was mom, dad, and a couple kids growing up in American suburbia in a nice little home with the ubiquitous white picket fence surrounding it.

The comfort of a white picket fence

In the late afternoon, dad would usually be getting off the bus up the street and walking home as his kids would run up to greet him.  Mom would have been home all day doing household chores and getting a nice roast in the oven for the family dinner at about 6:00.

During dinner the family would talk about their activities that day.  After dinner, the kids would help mom with the dishes before starting their homework while dad lit his pipe and read the evening paper.

It was a sedate lifestyle much the same as illustrated in the popular television series “Father Knows Best” which ran on CBS and ABC from 1954 to 1963.  Robert Young played father Jim Anderson with Jane Wyatt as his wife Margaret.  That show gave a good look at life in the ‘50s when dad would sit in his easy chair to read the paper without even taking off his suit coat or loosening his tie.

It’s pretty mundane stuff compared to family lifestyles now where every member has their own agenda and if the family does accidently eat dinner together, it is something picked up at a fast food joint.

September 9, 1956:  Elvis makes his first

appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show".

In those “Father Knows Best” days, television was a luxury.  In many neighborhoods, maybe one home on the street owned a TV and lucky were the kids who were invited to watch “Howdy Doody” at 5:30 each afternoon in beautiful 12” black and white.  TV didn’t even come on until 5:00 in the afternoon and would go off the air at about midnight after a late movie.  There were three networks:  ABC, NBC, and CBS.

Hit songs were heard on the radio and sold in music stores on either a 78rpm or 45rpm disc.  Most record stores had a listening booth where you could play the record before buying it.  Needless to say, most of us kids would go listen to the songs in the booth and never buy anything much to the chagrin of the store owner.

Friday nights usually meant walking to the theater to see a double feature.  No multi screen places in those days but there was a balcony in some of the larger shows.  No one cared if we got to the show for the beginning.  Usually we walked in half way through and when the film cycled back to that point someone would whisper down the row that “This is where we came in.”

We hitchhiked everywhere, rode streetcars, walked to and from school, went to football games on Friday nights, counted the days until we were 16 and could drive,  and spent as much time as possible at Cincy’s great amusement park of that era, Coney Island.  It was a special treat to take the paddle wheeled “Island Queen” up the Ohio River to Coney from downtown.  I will always remember the calliope playing.

The kids of today don’t know what they are missing by not liking cars.  We loved hot rods and Sunday always meant going to the Beechmont Levee drag strip.  We also didn’t have Twitter, Facebook, and iPhones which meant that we played a lot of outdoor pickup games of football, basketball, and baseball.   We didn’t know the meaning of “obese.”

 I also can’t remember anyone ever having an accident because of a distracted driver.  With stick shifts and a car full of buddies with the windows wide open, we didn’t have time to be distracted. 

There was no air conditioning in houses or cars then so making it through a hot and humid summer in Cincinnati was quite a feat.  I never lived in an air conditioned home until I was 29 and living in Kansas City.

Growing up in the 40s, 50s, and 60s was quite an experience.  America seemed a lot more relaxed then even as we feared “the bomb.” 

A lot of things look better in retrospect so I can’t say that those days were better but when comparing the two eras, it seems that life was a lot more lighthearted compared to now.  Today, I see a lot of unhappy people who don’t know the meaning of “common sense.”  It’s too bad they can’t return to that simpler era when we all liked Ike and watched “Father Knows Best”.

"IF YOU'VE GOT A BUSINESS; YOU DIDN'T BUILD THAT"

“One thing not subject to debate is what government owns.  It owns nothing.”

Gary Burk, American Thinker

Edward Klein’s bestselling book on Obama is called The Amateur.  I have purchased it but have not read it yet although after the events of the past week, I can’t think of a better title for a book about Obama.

The cracks are starting to show on this president as evidenced by his unfortunate words of last week (unfortunate for him; great for most of us).  By now we know them by heart:  “If you’ve got a business; you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.”

I wonder how my friend Bob Wilson feels about those words.  Bob is a guy who has busted his butt for more than a few years building a single Subway franchise into a six store chain.  Bob knows all about long hours and sweat and toil to get his small business going.  I’m sure he and many like him in this country have contempt for words like “you didn’t build that; somebody else made that happen.”  Gee; do you think the prez might be referring to his beloved union members as the straw that stirs the drink?

Obama is a guy who couldn’t survive without a teleprompter.  Maybe that is why we rarely hear him speak without the use of one.  In the case of the above comment, it was said on a rainy day in Virginia and perhaps the prompter shorted out and he had to assume the role of the emperor who had no clothes. 

When will I learn?

Adlibbing is not a strong suit for the prez.  We have heard him try it a few times and when he speaks it reinforces our belief about why he keeps his supposed college records and everything else about his past sealed tightly.

As predicted, Obama came back with a denial that he made such a statement but the proof is in the video.  It doesn’t matter how many times he denies it, it is etched in the recording and in the minds of millions of angry small business owners in this country.  It’s just another example of why Klein refers to him as an amateur.

I agree with Michael Barone of the Washington Examiner:  “High earners don’t deserve the money they make,” Obama apparently thinks.  “It’s the gift of government, and they shouldn’t begrudge handing more of it back to government.”  There’s more:  He told Charles Gibson of ABC News in 2008 that “even if those higher tax rates produce less revenue for the government….the government should take away more money (from the rich) as a matter of ‘fairness’ “.   Spoken like a true socialist.

That’s your president speaking folks so if you happen to have worked hard and are enjoying your spoils, you better start putting your money in coffee cans and burying them before big sis Janet Napolitano comes knocking on your door.  Remember her?  She’s the one who fears that veterans of this country’s military could be terrorist threats.  It’s a hell of a way to say “Thank you for your service, sir!”  That’s the kind of mentality we have to deal with under this administration.

One last comment:  In his ill fated Virginia remarks, Obama also mentioned that “There are a lot of wealthy, successful, Americans who agree with me because they want to give something back.”  It was another reference to his justification of taxing the rich with higher rates. So, (yawn), what’s new?

Anyway, as a public service I am going to help poor Barack get more money from those rich people he mentioned that want to “give something back.”  I assume he is referring to his entertainment business phony friends who in reality are some of the biggest tax dodgers in the country.

Please send all donated monies to:

Gifts to the United States,

U. S. Department of the Treasury

Credit Accounting Branch

3700 East-West Highway 

Room 622D,

Hyattsville, Maryland  20782.

The government thanks you for your support!  Maybe you will even get a receipt from Tim Geithner!


For CJ:

UPDATING MY STATEMENTS FROM THE ARIZONA AND SCOTTSDALE REPUBLICS

The following are comments I made during 2012 in the Sunday Arizona Republic feature “Plugged-In” and to the Scottsdale Republic for their “Saturday Soundoff” feature.  Following each comment is a current update.

From 5-17-2012:  What is it about academics that some Scottsdale School Board members don’t understand?  There is a proposal being debated that students should have to maintain a 2.0 grade average to participate in extracurricular activities like sports.   A 2.0 equals “C” which is “fair” and isn’t asking too much.  Currently, ”D” (poor) will suffice which even shocks many parents.  Those supporting “D” have their heads in the sand.  Extracurricular activities are a reward for decent grades and indicate maturity on the part of the student.  High school goes by quickly and a transcript full of “D’s” will get the student nowhere.  (Update:  The Scottsdale School Board recently saw the light and decided that a 2.0 average will be mandatory for student participation in extracurricular activities.)

April 29, 2012:  I had to make sure I wasn’t reading the April fool’s day edition of the Republic this morning when I saw a blurb in the Business section about Starbucks.  Apparently, they have been using a red dye in their drinks derived from crushed bugs!  After feedback from customers was negative, they decided to reformulate the dye using a tomato based extract.  Really?  I wonder how the millions of Starbucks’ customers feel now that they know their expensive red drinks contained the juice of beetles.  Will this hurt Starbucks business?  Maybe.  Are the Tully’s stores celebrating?  Yes!  (Update:  Not long after the report on bug juice was made public, Starbucks stopped using it.  Gee!  Really?)

March 4, 2012:  I know some things about young partiers:  they like to drink cheap, drink early, act immature, are not very profitable, and will depart an entertainment area as soon as something new comes along.   In the Scottsdale Downtown entertainment district, at least one club owner knows that the latter two items are true.  Hence, he will be offering live indoor entertainment in an effort to attract a “stable, older” audience.  I’m sure the “stable, older” neighbors living in the area are happy and hoping that a precedent has been set so they can at least reclaim some of their serenity.  (Update:  The beat goes on in Downtown Scottsdale as plans are being carried out to further expand the younger mentality drinking spots.  I have said that when the beach club fad wears out, there will be a ghost town in Scottsdale.  I’ve seen it in other places.  Those businesses are dealing with a fickle crowd that will move on to the next “cool” thing. 

May 29, 2012:  I understand the frustration of having inebriated people stumbling out of the bars during the evening and at closing time but is having a tower with spotlights going to solve anything?  It seems like a Stalag 17 mindset with lights combing the area to catch those heading for the escape tunnel.  How about taking the police off the tower and have them walking a beat watching for the drunks.  Does Scottsdale have an old fashioned “paddy wagon”?  If so, load up the extra snockered boozers and take them to the cooler for the night.  They’ll learn a valuable lesson there.  (Update:  Even though Scottsdale police are frustrated with the drunken behavior in the Downtown entertainment area, it appears that the surveillance tower idea will be shelved for now.  No word yet on my idea of the paddy wagon!

LEFT:  They're young and cute but can they sign their names?

January 17, 2012:  Some school kids are no longer being taught the importance of cursive writing.  Several modern teachers think it is too “old fashioned.”  They say printing can take the place of cursive.  It can?  Can you imagine not being able to sign your name?  What would John Hancock say about that?  As far as spelling correctly, there is computer spell check to save kids.  I wonder if they even take spelling tests anymore.  With texting so popular in their minds “you” is “u”, “great” is “gr8”, and “some” is “sum”.  When you only get 140 characters, I guess you have to improvise, right?   (Update:  This is a trend that will probably not be reversed.  I remember learning to write and print.  Apparently the former is being phased out.   I realize that times change but I can’t comprehend a world where people can’t sign their names.  Will kids now ignore some great signatures of the past like John Hancock?  I hope not.

AMERICAN COMPOSER LEROY ANDERSON

“I love music all day through although it makes me do the things I never should do.” 

You may not have heard that verse but it was sung by Ginger Rogers and comes from one of my favorite films, Flying Down to Rio (1933) which starred Ginger and Fred Astaire in one of their early Depression era musicals.

Leroy Anderson 

That film inspired one of the hottest dance crazes of the day:  “The Carioca”.  I wonder how many people actually knew the dance came from the movie when they were dancing the night away in the USA and singing “Have you seen the Carioca; it’s not a fox trot or a polka……”

That brings me to the subject of American songwriter Leroy Anderson.  If you are scratching your head wondering, “Who is Leroy Anderson?”  I don’t blame you.  He was a prolific songwriter from the era of the 1930s through the 1950s who, in spite of writing numerous popular songs that are still used today as themes, in commercials, or as background, never achieved the status of others like Gershwin or Irving Berlin.  Maybe it is because his tunes were more of the pop style but I think Anderson has been shortchanged in the popularity department.

For example, What would the Christmas holidays and winter be like without “Sleigh Ride”?  Composed in 1948, we have heard this song thousands of times though the years in different circumstances.  When I hear it, I am a kid again in Cincinnati ready to get up on Christmas morning.  With the horse hoofs and the bells, it’s easy to picture a Christmas winter scene.

Who remembers “I’ve Got a Secret”?  It was a popular quiz show that ran on TV from 1952 to 1967 with Garry Moore as the host.  The theme song was “Plink, Plank, Plunk”, another Anderson song which I’m sure you have heard many times over the years.

“The Syncopated Clock” was written in 1945 and was performed by the Boston Pops with Anderson as a guest conductor.  It was such a humorous encore to the night’s program that CBS started using it as a theme for their late movie presentation.  After one week, they were swamped with phone calls as to how the song could be acquired.   We have all heard it many times since then.

In 1952, Anderson’s “Blue Tango” became the first instrumental piece to ever make the epitome of popular music, the Hit Parade.  It made the top ten on March 29, 1952 and stayed there for twenty-five of the next twenty-six weeks.  That included reaching number one twice.

Perhaps the most heard song that Anderson wrote is “TheTypewriter.”  It only runs about two minutes but I have seen and heard this song in more movies, TV shows, and commercials than about any other vintage tune.  The link is a cute version of it with a bit of comedy added.  It runs about four minutes and you’ll enjoy it.

So, who was this guy Leroy Anderson?  His biography shows he was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1908.  His mother was a church organist who got him interested in music.  He went to Harvard where he received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.  In the mid 1930s he became an arranger for the Boston Pops under the tutelage of Arthur Fiedler.

After serving in World War II and Korea as a linguistics expert, Anderson finally got back into music in 1952 at age 43 doing composing and arranging.

The five tunes I have linked you to above are the tip of the iceberg for Leroy Anderson.  He wrote and performed many more which you can Google and enjoy.

In 1975, Leroy Anderson died at age 66.  As one writer said, “His cheerful light tunes did more than express the optimistic and good humored Forties and Fifties. Their mixture of nostalgia and wit remains fresh and entertaining to people of all ages.”

"THIS......IS........JEOPARDY!"

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the game show “Jeopardy” and the show’s host, Alex Trebek.  Alex has been doing the show since 1984 so he is a well known guy to trivia lovers like me.

Twenty-eight years is a long time in the fickle television business but Alex has managed to beat the system by remaining a constant on our screens when we hear that magic theme song telling us “Jeopardy” is on the air.

HAPPY 4TH!.........................

Unfortunately, Alex recently suffered a heart attack.  He insists he will be back for the new season’s tapings this month and I hope he is right.  This recent attack follows one he had in 2007 so I have my fingers crossed that at 71 he has a full recovery.

“Jeopardy” is a special show with a lot of fond memories for my wife Barb and me.  Although it has been broadcast as a syndicated series since 1984, the roots of “Jeopardy” go back much further than that to the day it started as a network daytime show on NBC in March, 1964. 

Merv  Griffin has been given credit for inventing the show although his  wife Julann in 1964 actually thought of the idea while they were on an airplane flight.  Merv had been looking for a show to present to NBC and his wife suggested he try a quiz show covering numerous categories where the answer was given and the contestant had to come up with the question.  As an example, under “movie roles” the answer could be “He played gangster Roy Earle in ‘High Sierra’ hence, the question would be “Who is Humphrey Bogart?”

NBC bought the idea on the spot and “Jeopardy” was born on March 30, 1964 which, ironically, was my 23rd birthday.  It proceeded to run in a daytime slot until January, 1975.  After that, there were a couple of syndicated nighttime versions.  All these shows were hosted by Art Fleming with the last show occurring in 1979.  In 1984, the syndicated version that we know today began with Alex Trebek as host and the rest is history as “Jeopardy” today is still very popular, especially with us trivia freaks. My memories of the show are extensive.  I used to catch glimpses of the original Art Fleming version during lunch time in my barracks room in the Air Force.  I watched it on a 1958 12 inch GE television with "rabbit ears" that took about a minute to warm up.

Sarah Whitcomb and  me  at Jeopardy

tryouts in April, 2005

After we got married, my teacher wife Barb would watch the show in the summers at 11:00 a.m. and write down the final “Jeopardy” answer for me.  

While I was in between selling calls, I would call her on a pay phone and try to answer the question.  Those were the days in the late 60s and early 70s before VCRs so that is all the technology we had.   Needless to say, when VCRs came along, we had the luxury of taping the whole show.  Those are fun days to remember and when “Jeopardy” was revived in 1984, it was heaven for us.

In 2005, I was writing a weekly column for the North Scottsdale Independent and had the privilege of covering the “Jeopardy” tryouts at the Phoenician Hotel in Phoenix.   After all the years of being a watcher of the show, I got to meet some of the staff including a member of the “clue crew”, the gorgeous Sarah Whitcomb.

The new season of “Jeopardy” will begin in September.  It will be the start of season 29 for Alex Trebek.  I wish him well and I will be watching.

PAWN SHOP BUSINESS REFLECTS BAD ECONOMY

If someone would have told me ten years ago that pawn shops would become a big business, I would have thought they were crazy.  Looking at the status of these places now, maybe I’m the one who was crazy.

The rise in popularity of the pawn shop is basically a result of the bad economy.  Anyone with bad credit can dismiss the idea of getting decent loans from banks, so many have turned to pawn shops to get some quick dough from borrowing against items like jewelry, musical instruments, and other valuables.

There are some who say this is something to be concerned about since loans from pawn shops can sometimes carry interest rates of 20% per month.  That’s a chunk of interest to be sure but if someone is in need of quick money, there may not be a less expensive alternative.  As one operator in Boston says, “It’s a short term loan designed to bail someone out and be done with it.”

Corey, Rick, and "the old man" of Pawn Stars

I am a regular viewer of “Pawn Stars” on the History Channel and it seems like those guys are always buying items from people and making few loans.   However, as reporter Candice Choi relates, the more lucrative part of the business for the shops is giving loans against the customer’s belongings.  Customers also prefer to borrow rather than sell because it “lets them hold on to what may be their only tickets to cash in the future.”

It’s a simple process:  Credit checks do not exist and loans have no effect on credit scores.  The shop owner simply looks over the item(s) brought in and offers a loan against it.  If the loan is paid back within 30 days, the items can be reclaimed.  Loans can also be extended but if payment is not made on time, the shop can put the collateral up for sale.

With banks tightening their requirements, a lot of them are requiring a credit score of at least 700 to qualify for loans.  That leaves many in the cold with the local pawn shop being their only alternative.

Hey buddy. Can you spare a dime for my campaign?

Since the start of the economic downturn, typical pawn loans have doubled to about $150.  Interest rates can vary and depend on the size of the loan.  In the South loans are usually smaller and are made against items like power tools and lawn mowers.  In that area interest rates can be as high as 20%, not a very good deal but if you are strapped for cash, what can you do?

I could almost swear that I saw Obama at a pawn shop in Scottsdale the other day trying to hock his undeserved Nobel Prize.   Poor guy, he must be about out of money from his 160 fundraisers and cash from his Obama zombies in Hollywood.  Plus, Michelle is packing for her trip to the London Olympics but taxpayers will be paying for most of that I’m sure. 

However, there is the little matter of the town of Durham, New Hampshire who wants $30,000 from Obama to cover the expenses the town incurs from his campaign visit.  That may explain why he is asking people to defer on buying wedding gifts for friends and giving him the money for his campaign instead.  Now, that is one classy guy!

I’m sure your friends getting married will be thrilled to hear you gave the cost of what would have been their wedding present to Obama.

OBAMA AND HIS PHONY HOLLYWOOD BUDDIES

I used to give my dad a hard time when I was a kid because he disliked so many show business people because of their wild private lives.  In particular, he had no use for Frank Sinatra because Frank was such a carouser and had married so many women.

It was a different world then and as a naïve kid, I could enjoy plenty of entertainers regardless of what they did on their own time.  It never bothered me a bit that Frank was a popular guy with the ladies and had been married several times.  I was at an age where I thought it was really “cool” that he had a wife as gorgeous as Ava Gardner but could still have other babes on the side.  What a guy! 

Today, I have morphed into my dad when it comes to Hollywood phonies.  There are plenty of them and although I don’t care about their home life and marital problems, I do dislike the phony political philosophy of many of them.

I’m talking about the typical Hollywood limousine liberal: Obama loving types who love to feel good about themselves by forking over large amounts of money to a guy they think is a messiah out to save us with his liberal mindset.  Never mind that the guy has never held a real job and has been a deer in the headlights for over three years.

All of this is happening while the national debt has climbed to $15 trillion, unemployment is back up to 8.2%, and we have record numbers of food stamp recipients and relentless assaults on religious freedom while illegal aliens can now get excused and fight with the 20 million Americans who are out of work for the scarce jobs that may be available.

Obama is now back on the campaign trail making empty promises and using divisive, class-warfare, language to push for re-election.  Plus, to fund his $1 billion campaign, he is once again going to his Hollywood buddies.

Relax, George, and write that check 

So, you might say:  “Well, they believe in Obama because he wants to have green power sources, eliminate racism (ha-ha), produce green energy through wind and sun power, and gear everyone to a liberal lifestyle where the rich get soaked to support a myriad of ridiculous government  programs and regulations.  

It’s very noble to them that Obama despises the entrepreneurs who are the REAL job creators saying they need to pay higher taxes.   As Orit Sklar of “The Daily Caller” has written, “For someone who speaks about the American dream, Obama certainly knows how to deride people who have achieved it and set up roadblocks in front of those seeking it.”

As the prez makes his rounds of $50,000 per plate fundraisers with stars like George Clooney and Sarah Jessica Parker, how do some of the other rich Obama lovers go about paying THEIR “fair share?”  Huge Obama supporter Bruce Springsteen, who despises the rich, is pretty rich himself and has even found a loophole where he can avoid property taxes on a couple hundred acres of his estate in New Jersey by claiming he is a farmer.  This has saved him thousands of tax dollars that would go to needy causes in New Jersey.

Then, there is another of Obama’s pals, Bon Jovi.  Obama even gives this guy free plane rides on Air Force One.  He has found that raising a few bees can save him a ton on taxes.   Taxes that he believes other should pay but not him.  

Meanwhile, stars like Sting, Julia Roberts, and Leonardo DiCaprio are flying private jets around the world, expanding their carbon footprints faster than they can buy carbon offsets as they call for anti-global warming policies to stifle business and economic growth.   Harrison Ford owns several airplanes and has bragged about how he can hop in one and fly up the coast for a hamburger.  Hypocrites?  I think so.

They can do as they please but “paying their fair share,” as Obama constantly cries the rich are not doing, is not anything that interests them or him.  They just don’t care, folks.  Below their glossy exteriors, they are phony to the bone.

Remember that in November. 

THE 1953 CADILLLAC, FERRIS BUELLER, AND MISCELLANY

The Cadillac has withstood the test of time and is still popular today.

In 1953, a Series 62 Caddy four door sedan loaded was selling for $3,665.  “Loaded” included automatic transmission and the following:

Hydraulic window lifts optional on some Series 62 models.
Heating and ventilation system	$199
Power steering	$177
Signal-seeking radio with preselector and antenna	$132
Remote control signal-seeking radio with preselector and antenna	$214
Five white sidewall tires	$48 exchange
Tinted E-Z-Eye glass	$46
Autronic Eye Automatic headlamp beam control	$53
Chrome wire wheels	$325
Air conditioning	$620

In case you are wondering what the “Autronic Eye” was, it was a small gadget that was on the dashboard that allowed your headlights to be dimmed automatically when another car was approaching from the opposite direction.  That was considered quite a convenience in 1953 since that was the era of the headlight dimmer switch being located on the floor and activated by your left foot.

A 2012 Cadillac Escalade loaded has a MSRP in Scottsdale of $70,000.  If all you have is $3,665 today you might be able to buy some Escalade hubcaps and maybe a couple of tires.

Here is a trivia question about the 1953 model:  It was the first year Cadillac put a couple of large protruding bumper guards on the front grille (see photo).  Can you give the nickname of those bumper guards and tell why they had that name?

 

Other stuff:

Have you ever noticed how expressions change over the years?  Some of them have hung on and others disappeared only to be replaced by new ones.

Today, I really get tired of “Back in the day”, “It is what it is”, and “At the end of the day”.  Thankfully, they will eventually go the way of “My dogs are really barkin’”, “If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black”, and “It’s the best thing since sliced bread.”

Kids had some expressions of their own when I was growing up.  Those were the days before “cool” was popular.  When I was in junior high “cool” was ”george” as in:  “Man, that new Chevy is really george.”  Don’t ask me why.

There also was a fascination with the word “brew”.  It didn’t really mean anything other than people loved to put signs up in weird places that read in large letters “BREW.”  You could see the sign on top of a skyscraper, a high chimney, or any other weird place that might be difficult to get to.  For those of a certain age, it was remindful of the old “Kilroy was here” expression which was found written everywhere during the World War II era.

Another trivia:  One of the great movies from 1986 is “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”  Can you name the actor who played Ferris’ teacher who kept calling his name for attendance?  “Bueller?  Bueller?  Bueller?......He is still around and is known for his voiceovers among other things.

Do you have a smart phone?  Do you text?  Do Facebook? Tweet?  Skype?  I have none of those things and am somehow managing to survive.  I do have a cell phone which costs me $7.50 per month.  I think I used it for five minutes last month.

When I asked one of my bloggers if her teenage kids sent and received many emails, she said that they don’t even use email anymore since it is too slow!  It’s “Skype”  and texting for them!

I wonder whatever happened to Mayberry’s phone operator “Sarah”.  Andy could never had made a call without her.  Maybe she works for Skype.

(Click "comments" below for trivia answers)

IMPORTANT DEMS LIKE ROMNEY'S BUSINESS SENSE

I was taught as a child to be careful who I criticize.  It may be some of the best advice I ever had since the best course to take when dissatisfied with someone is to let them hang themselves.  That is what I try to do at the national level since we have Obama as a president who seems determined to hang himself.

A good example happened recently as Obama chose to do the ad hominem thing on Mitt Romney.   He said that Bain Capital and Romney were “vampires preying on American workers in their pursuit of personal profit.”  It’s the same old story that is always used when one is failing and the only avenue left open is a personal attack on his challenger.  That type of campaigning is usually a turnoff to intelligent voters which was the case this time. 

To make matters worse for the prez, several leading Democrats chimed in to support the work Governor Romney did during his Bain Capital years.  Prestigious Democrats like Ed Rendell, Cory Booker, Bill Clinton, Former House Rep Thomas Ford, and Senator Mark Warner represent those Dems who have not crossed the Rubicon into Obama’s “hate the free market” mentality.  Clinton even commented that Romney did a “sterling” job at Bain which constituted “a good business career.”  Warner said that Bain had “done a good job for their investors.”  Booker said Obama’s attack was “nauseating to the American public.”

The funniest thing about this is that Romney has been knowledgeable and successful in business while Obama has never even had a real job so who is he to say anything about how to do business? 

Being a Republican, it is refreshing to see this rebuke of Obama by his own people.  I’m especially glad to see Clinton speak up even though he will still vote for Obama out of loyalty to his party.  But, if even half of the things written in Edward Klein’s new book about Obama (“The Amateur”) are true, Bill and Barack probably will not be exchanging Christmas cards anytime soon.

NEW BOOK FROM JOHN STOSSEL

For a good read, try John Stossel’s latest book, “No, They Can’t”.  John mentions that “Government planners have failed in the Soviet Union, in Cuba, in America’s school system and the U. S. Postal Service…..What government does is make the problems worse and leave us deeper in debt.  Why don’t we ever learn?” Stossel is a Libertarian so a big national government is not his preference.  In the book his points are well taken.

DOES THE GSA EVER LEARN?

Common sense cannot be taught.  Either you know how to come in from the rain or you don’t.  Here is another example:  If you work for the GSA, you probably should not park your car with a U. S. Government GSA license plate stating that the vehicle is for “OFFICIAL USE ONLY”, fifteen spaces away from the door to the Talking Stick Casino on the Salt River Pima Reservation.  I noticed this  recently and it made me wonder who is hiring these people.  What is it about the embarrassment of the GSA scandal in Las Vegas that they don’t understand?

                               Cartoon of the day:  No wonder dogs are man's best friend!

                                    

MY WALTER WINCHELL IMITATION...(I KNOW, WHO'S HE?)

Unless you are a certain age, you probably never heard of Walter Winchell (1897-1972).

Winchell was a radio and newspaper guy who dealt with gossip stories primarily about people in the entertainment business and politics.  He was immensely popular from the 1920s through the early 1960s.  He had a fast talking style as he blurted out information in short or incomplete sentences while hitting a telegraph key to give an air of urgency.

His standard opening for his radio show was the sound of the telegraph key while he shouted “Good evening Mr. and Mrs. North and South America and all the ships at sea!  Let’s go to press!"

His columns were sometimes called dot, dot, dot, columns because of his use of dots between short story bursts.  Larry King used the same format in later years and I will imitate it today:

Winchell and his telegraph key

I have been writing this blog since 2005 and have found that the most hits I get deal with a blog from 2008 about “kids growing up too fast.”  Second most popular is a piece I did about the dancing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger's while a story about  Alfred Hitchcock and “Psycho” is third. . . Are older cars better than those made today?  Not a chance but they have the memories we love to reminisce about.  You’ll never hear kids today talk about going to the drive-in restaurant in a new BMW but we sure like to talk about going there in our ’57 Chevys all those years ago. . . Did you know that a brand new Chevy Corvette in 1953 cost $3,490?  That was the one with the 6 cylinder engine and three single barrel carburetors . . . One of my favorite places to eat in Scottsdale is the Elephant Bar.  They have a nice varied menu, good service, and have been in business for about ten years which is a rarity these days.  Best BBQ?  Try Bryan’s in Cave Creek. . . I hate cigarettes but if I smoked, I would probably buy my smokes on the Indian rez.  You can save a lot on the tax bite there and if the store on McDowell east of the 101 is any indication, they are selling a lot of tobacco.  That guy has a drive-up window that is always busy! . . . What’s the big deal with 3D movies at the theaters?  The old Kachina Theater in Scottsdale showed them 60 years ago.  They were a fad then and will be now.  Hollywood is hurting; not getting near the business they used to get when they made good films instead of the garbage and remakes so prevalent now. . . How times do change!  I moved to Scottsdale in 1987 from the Kansas and Missouri area where Walmart Stores were everywhere.  I asked someone at the time about Walmarts in Phoenix and they gave me a look as if to say, “Who?”  It wasn’t long after that I saw one open at Tatum and Bell.  We all know the rest of that story . . . Winding down for today:  What do Mary Worth, Brenda Starr,  Gasoline Alley, Steve Canyon, and Terry and the Pirates have in common?  Answer:   They are comic strips that have disappeared.

So long until next time!!!

Two good recent cartoons:

It's hard to read but the little mooching girl is Obama's fantasy girlfriend "Julia".

THE GHOST ARMY OF WORLD WAR II

By Jim McAllister


Note:  This article was originally published on April 27, 2005 in the NORTH SCOTTSDALE INDEPENDENT. I was fascinated by the story of the ghost army and the bravery of those guys in World War II.  With Memorial Day arriving in a few days, I feel a tribute to them and our current fighting forces is appropriate with a reprint of that column....JM

I’m sure you are wondering, "What in the world was the ghost army of World War II?" It’s an interesting and fascinating story which is not that well known.


Ever since warfare has existed, armies have relied on some type of deception to gain an advantage on their opponents. Some ancient armies used plaster dummies, others used fake smoke signals and spies, and we all know about the famous Trojan horse. These ancient examples of deception were carried into modern warfare during World War II with the exploits of the ghost army or their actual title which was the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops.


The ghost army was a unique and little known group of American soldiers who played a big part in the Allied victory over Germany through their abilities in the art of deception. Even though information on this unit became available about thirty years ago, not much has been written about them. As World War II faded into history, so did the 23rd Special Troops.


The ghost army was organized by Lieutenant Colonel Merrick Truly. He was the executive officer in charge of these deception experts. Although Truly’s men reported to the American ground commander in Europe, General Omar Bradley, most of the American soldiers did not know of the existence of the Special Troops. They operated at night under strictly special orders and were not even required to give their identity to superior officers.


Former Scottsdale resident Dr Harold 
Laynor, a member of the 23rd Special
Troops. (Laynor Museum)
The ghost army consisted of 82 officers and 1,023 enlisted men. With their eclectic mixture of talents, they were strictly in the deception business. The Special Troops were made up of four units: a sonic deception company, a special radio company, a company of combat engineers, and a battalion of camoufleurs. They served with four armies in five European countries in five major campaigns from D-Day (June 6, 1944) until the end of the war in 1945.


The most unique part of this already unique group was the composition of its members. Many of these men were already famous as artists, sculptors, architects, literary figures, and others from the world of the arts and humanities. Actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was perhaps the most well known for his Hollywood successes, but there was also renowned fashion designer Bill Blass, Olin Dows: a prominent artist, George Diestal: a Hollywood set designer, Art Kane: a fashion photographer, and Harold Laynor, whose artistic works depicting World War II and other subjects, are shown in galleries throughout the country.



The Special Troops used six major methods of deception: camouflaging troops and tanks, placing dummy tanks and artillery, firing pyrotechnics to simulate actual artillery fire, the use of artificial sound effects, using artificial radio communication, and using fake special effects. This created an atmosphere of great danger as they needed to be in close to front line battles.


"Dummy" aircraft used for deception (Laynor Museum)

Although these brave men were involved in at least twenty other confrontations with the enemy, their biggest contribution was probably at the battle between Allied Forces and Germany at the Rhine River on March 23, 1945. Their contributions were essential in weakening the German assault and forcing Germany to surrender two months later in May of 1945.


Although records and information concerning the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops are sketchy, the aforementioned artist Harold Laynor (1922-1991) made a series of fifty paintings covering two years of participating in World War II. His works include paintings of army buddies, aspects of training and, as the series progresses, he relates the brutality and horror of war.


Like the above mentioned celebrities participating in the 23rd, Dr. Laynor was highly distinguished in his field. Although he used primarily watercolors for his World War II work, he was also a pioneer in the use of lacquer as a medium of painting and the use of 3D paintings for the blind.


The Laynor Foundation website (www.laynor.org) has valuable information concerning the ghost army and also features seven galleries of Dr. Laynor’s World War II paintings. They are very interesting and illustrative of that terrible time in our history.


Optical illusions, bluffs, sleight of hand, misinformation, disappearing acts: all part of the ghost army of World War II; a brave and cunning bunch of guys who were instrumental in giving us the lifestyle we enjoy today. 

REMEMBERING THE ROMANCE OF YOUTH ON A GREYHOUND BUS

If you are a certain age and were usually watching your money while enjoying your youth in the military or college, you probably can be counted among the many of us who were frequent customers of either Greyhound or Continental Trailways bus lines.

Continental Trailways was a legitimate competitor to Greyhound until 1987 when they were absorbed into the Greyhound system.  By then, two large bus companies were not really needed since traveling by bus wasn’t as popular as previously.

Looking back, I remember bus travel in a romantic sense.  Maybe it is because it occurred primarily while being on my own in the Air Force between 1961 and 1965.

All aboard for Oklahoma, St. Louis, and points east

There was the trip with my basic training friends from San Antonio to tech school in Amarillo via Trailways.  It was November and cold in Texas as we rolled onto Amarillo Air Force Base.  That bus was warm and cozy and I sure missed it when the driver dropped us off in that cold parking lot.  Ahead of us was eight weeks of hell with Tech Sergeant Green.  We thought basic training was tough but it was a Sunday school picnic compared to Amarillo tech school.

My most memorable bus trip occurred when I left Amarillo in late December of ’61 and headed home to Cincinnati for Christmas leave.  Being a poor GI, I naturally booked passage on a Greyhound bus.  Have you ever ridden a bus from Amarillo, Texas to Cincinnati, Ohio at Christmas time?  Unless you are short on cash I have one word of advice:  DON’T!

However, looking back it is a fond memory as the bus was so full that people were standing in the aisle.  I’m sure that was illegal since when we reached a weigh station in Oklahoma, the driver asked the standers to crouch down and spread their weight around.

    I can certainly identify with these guys 

When we reached St. Louis about sixteen hours later at 7:30 a.m., I found out I missed my connection to Cincy by thirty minutes.  That meant waiting until 3:30 that afternoon for the next bus.

After finally leaving St. Louis and having gotten no sleep for 24 hours, it was on to Cincy where I quickly fell asleep which was a great feeling until I was awaken in Shoals, Indiana  and told that the bus had broken down and we would have to move to another bus.  By then, I figured, “Screw it” and got off in below zero weather with the ground covered with ice and snow.

We finally made it to Cincinnati by 4:00 a.m. and feeling like needing a bit of luxury, I caught a cab home.  When I was dropped off, I just stood in front of my house for a few minutes in the dark breathing in the freezing air while thinking; “What the hell have I done?”   I had three years and nine months to go in the Air Force; was it always going to be a litany of bus rides?

Fortunately, it wasn’t unless you count the Greyhound trip from McGuire AFB in New Jersey to Cincinnati after coming home from Germany in 1963.  However, I’ll save that for another time!  For now, I’ll just say that those experiences made me a better man.

BIDEN'S SHOE AGAIN FIRMLY ENTRENCHED IN MOUTH

Even  left leaning political cartoonist Steve Benson of the AZ Republic is having fun with this.  Start checking the want ads, Joe. 

Even though Obama doesn’t need help in looking foolish, it’s still comforting to know that we always have Joe Biden to step in for the prez when he runs low on material.

Big Joe did it again last week with his support of gay marriage; something that Obama was trying to hold off on until after November for fear of the political backlash it would bring with precious Independent voters and religious groups. It was kind of like he is doing with the Keystone decision.  Heaven forbid he would man up and say yes or no on that now.  First, he has to decide who to piss off the least:  his EPA buddies or the unions.  What a guy!

With Forcing Obama’s hand on gay marriage, it’s almost as if Joe was being slipped a few million by Romney to throw a wrench into the gears of an already troubled administration.   The good news is that Romney doesn’t have to pay the guy; Joe is always happy to put his foot in his mouth for free.

To make matters worse, Biden even referred to Mr. Romney as “President Romney” while referring to Obama as “President Clinton.”   Does the foolishness ever end?  I guess I should save until another day Biden’s making the sign of the cross at a convention of 1,600 Rabbis recently.

I almost feel sorry for press secretary Jay Carney who had to take the grilling over Biden’s gay marriage statement. The poor guy seems to always stutter and stammer anyway but the reporters had him almost crying when they started laughing at his flustered answers to their questions.

Even Liberal leaning columnist Dana Milbank of the Washington Post has written that Biden “inadvertently set off a frenzy on same-sex marriage, not because his position was surprising but because it made Obama’s look all the more absurd.”

Milbank reports that CNN’s Jessica Yellin asked whether Obama was trying to “have it both ways before an election” and whether he should “stop dancing around the issue.”

ABC’s Jake Tapper said that “it seems cynical to hide this prior to the election” and that “I don’t want to hear the same talking points 15 times in a row.”

NBC’s Chuck Todd said with a grin, “So help me out here. He opposes bans on gay marriage, but he doesn’t yet support gay marriage?”

Carney replied that “He, as you know, said that his views on this were evolving.”  To that Tapper replied whether Obama was “still evolving” or whether he’s “just waiting for the proper time to drop it, likely after November.”

“His views,” Carney maintained, “are crystal clear.”

Chris Geidner from Metro Weekly, a gay publication, said it best: “If he’s crystal clear, why is everybody in this room asking you questions?”

Yeah, why?

Hey Hillary, Are you SURE you don’t want to run for Vice President in November? 


More Benson of the AZ Republic.